Venezuela Police Break Up Scuffle

Police used tear gas to break up a clash between President Hugo Chavez's supporters and opponents as Venezuelan leaders ignored foreign pressure to end a strike and schedule elections.

The clash in central Caracas late Thursday buttressed warnings by the Organization of American States that time is running out for a peaceful resolution in the world's fifth largest oil exporter and No. 4 supplier to the United States. There were no reports of serious injuries in Thursday night's scuffle.

"If we don't find a solution at the table, there's a risk that the country becomes more polarized, and that brings an enormous risk of violence," OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria said.

Citing economic and political turmoil, Chavez opponents launched a general strike on Dec. 2, demanding a nonbinding referendum on his presidency, which ends in 2007. Chavez has refused, and the opposition now says it will end the strike only if he calls general elections.

Venezuela's oil industry, which supplies 13 percent of U.S. imports, has been crippled by the strike, unsettling markets worldwide and alarming analysts heading into the winter oil season.

Ali Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's state-owned oil monopoly, said Venezuela might even have to import gasoline.

Fearing violence from pro-Chavez mobs, the opposition Globovision TV network urged supporters to stay inside. Protesters banged on pots and pans _ a nightly ritual _ from inside their houses, instead of on the streets.

Earlier Thursday, opposition supporters _ many of them middle-class professionals who accuse Chavez of stirring class warfare _ held a rowdy march outside the headquarters of Venezuela's oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

"Every minute we're at risk of descending into violence. But I don't care. We'll stay in the streets," said Maria Luisa Guinand, a 28-year-old marketing executive.

Intent on breaking the strike, Chavez fired four dissident executives of the oil company.

"These people are destroying the image that we have maintained for 100 years of being a secure producer and exporter," said Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez.

Chavez fired the same executives and three others in April, sparking a general strike that led to a two-day coup. Chavez reinstated the executives after he was restored to power.

Hundreds of oil workers held a raucous assembly in a Caracas hotel and gave the fired managers a standing ovation.

"We're going to keep striking until we have the freedom that we're all asking for," fired oil manager Juan Fernandez said.

An army colonel and a major joined more than 100 dissident military officers calling for Chavez to step down.

"It seems the opposition is predicting violence, but they're the ones who are violent," said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

Food, water and cash became more scarce as the strike affected supplies. Chavez supporters rattled the gates of a closed bank and set off firecrackers to demand that it reopen.

In April, dissident oil executives nearly shut down Venezuelan oil production. Labor and business groups joined the strike, and Chavez was overthrown April 12 after 19 people were killed during an opposition march. He returned April 14 after an interim government abolished the constitution and his supporters took to the streets.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pledged at a ministers' meeting in Vienna on Thursday that the cartel would step in if needed to supply Venezuela's domestic and foreign oil customers.